NOTRE DAME, Ind. -
All 26 athletics programs at the University of Notre Dame again exceeded the NCAA's Academic Progress Rate standards -- and the Irish had more teams (nine) earn perfect 1,000 scores than any other Football Bowl Subdivision program, in the fifth annual set of APR statistics issued today by the NCAA.

The 2009 report released by the NCAA features a four-year compilation of APR data from the 2004-05, 2005-06, 2006-07 and 2007-08 academic years. The APR uses a series of formulas related to student-athlete retention and eligibility to measure the academic performances of all participants who receive grants-in-aid on every team at every NCAA Division I college and university.

Among Notre Dame's most significant peer group (formerly the NCAA Division I-A football-playing schools), no other institution had more programs post perfect 1,000 scores than Notre Dame's nine. Duke had eight, followed by Boston College and Stanford (six each), the U.S. Naval Academy (five), and Michigan (four).

In the Football Bowl Subdivision, institutions with the top APR figures in football included Stanford (984), the U.S. Air Force Academy (983), Duke and Rutgers (980 each), Rice (979), the U.S. Naval Academy (978), Miami, Fla. (977), Penn State and Georgia (976 each), Notre Dame (974), Northwestern (973) and Boston College (970).

Today's release follows the announcement last month by the NCAA of teams that posted multi-year APR scores in the top 10 percent of all squads in their respective sports. The public recognition awards were part of the broad Division I academic reform effort.

Among Football Bowl Subdivision institutions, no school had more programs honored than the 14 by Notre Dame. Next were Duke (12), the U.S. Naval Academy, Boston College and Stanford (11 each), Rice (seven), Michigan and North Carolina (six each).